Chairs, movable baskets and trolleys, walkers, scooters, or the like are useful for carrying and moving items such as luggage, groceries, heavy items, as well as people. Some of these items may be motorised, but many versions of these devices have limitations when negotiating stairs. Some wheeled attachments are also known but involve cumbersome, large and inflexible apparatus.
Wheelchairs in particular can be very difficult to operate over uneven ground, kerbs, gutters, single steps and staircases, among other such similar variations to relatively smooth surfaces. This is so if the wheelchair is a manually-pushed chair but particularly so for a powered chair which uses electrical power for propulsion and steering. These latter types of chair, due to the propulsion and onboard energy storage systems are relatively heavy and large, and known models often have difficulty driving over uneven ground, and particularly over kerbs, gutters, single steps and staircases.
The present invention provides improved step climbing attachments suitable for use with wheeled chairs and other vehicles such as wheelchairs. It will be appreciated in referring to step-climbing attachments that the attachment can be used to descend steps and also to climb and/or descend other obstacles including kerbs, gutters, staircases and the like.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.